The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Expo 2020 in Dubai: What more than 200,000 workers created

2021-10-15T16:45:56.304Z


Where there used to be barren desert, futuristic Expo 2020 pavilions now glitter. The seven billion dollar World's Fair in Dubai is controversial - here are the pictures.


Enlarge image

1 / 22nd

Delayed Expo 2020: The world exhibition, which was postponed due to the corona pandemic, has been taking place in Dubai since October 1st - for the first time in an Arab country.

The Expo was first held in London's Hyde Park in 1851 - initially in a building, later each country built its own pavilion, often with a spectacular design.

Photo: Arnulf Hettrich / imago images / Arnulf Hettrich

Enlarge image

2/22

Dome on Al-Wasl-Platz: By the end of March 2022, 192 countries will present their technological innovations in the pavilions and advertise themselves with shows and cultural events.

The organizers, the United Arab Emirates, are expecting around 25 million visitors - but the expo is controversial.

Photo: Arnulf Hettrich / imago images / Arnulf Hettrich

Enlarge image

3/22

Reception gate made of bamboo mesh: The United Arab Emirates and other Gulf states such as Qatar, where the soccer World Cup will take place in 2022, are repeatedly criticized for human rights violations and poor working conditions for migrant workers from South Asian countries.

The European Parliament has therefore called on its member states to boycott the Expo.

Many EU countries such as Germany, France, the Netherlands and Ireland still take part.

Photo: Arnulf Hettrich / imago images / Arnulf Hettrich

Enlarge image

4/22

Hosts pavilion: The European Parliament had cited in the resolution the "inhumane practices of the UAE towards foreign workers", which had worsened during the pandemic.

In the run-up to the expo, companies and construction companies forced workers to sign untranslated documents, confiscated their passports, exposed them to extreme working hours in unsafe weather conditions, and provided them with unsanitary accommodation, it said.

Photo: Arnulf Hettrich / imago images / Arnulf Hettrich

Enlarge image

5/22

Wavy Iraq Pavilion: Shortly after the expo opened, the organizers announced that three workers on the project had died after being infected with Covid-19.

In addition, there were three work-related deaths and 72 serious injuries among 200,000 workers during construction.

The organizers defended the accident rate: it is less than half that of construction work in Great Britain.

Photo: KARIM SAHIB / AFP

Enlarge image

6/22

Baden-Württemberg House with umbrella: "The fact that we are the only region among more than 190 nations to be represented with our own pavilion at the Expo is an outstanding opportunity and a milestone in our state's global presence," said Baden-Württemberg Minister of Economic Affairs Nicole Hoffmeister-Kraut at the opening.

The south-west presents itself there with 40 innovation projects.

On the Day of German Unity, Federal Development Minister Gerd Müller was also at Expo 2020.

Photo: Ryan Lim / dpa

Enlarge image

7/22

France at a glance: French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian declared that his government was “not part” of the European Parliament's resolution.

"Our relations with the United Arab Emirates are strategic and very close," said Le Drian when asked about concerns about disregard for local working conditions.

"If we have to say something to the government of the United Arab Emirates, we do it behind closed doors."

Photo: GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP

Enlarge image

8/22

Shimmering Australia: The $ 7 billion fair is the largest event in the world since the pandemic began.

During this time, strict corona regulations apply, all visitors must either be vaccinated or tested negative.

Photo: KARIM SAHIB / AFP

Enlarge image

9/22

Pakistan in color: the expo was planned for eight years.

A desert landscape turned into a 438 hectare exhibition with robots, a new subway station and pavilions worth millions.

Photo: Arnulf Hettrich / imago images / Arnulf Hettrich

Enlarge image

10/22

3-D twin of Michelangelo's David statue in the Italy pavilion: From the visitors' stand, only the upper body of the 5.20 meter high naked youth can be seen without any contortions.

Italian media saw it as censorship by the Islamic hosts.

The organizers replied that the unusual presentation had "functional" reasons: the lower part of the statue could be viewed on the lower floor, where official events were taking place.

It can also be viewed at "eye level" - unlike the original.

Photo: RULA ROUHANA / REUTERS

Enlarge image

11/22

Panda robots from China: The expo takes place under the motto "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future".

Dubai's ruler and the driving force behind the emirate's transformation, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, says Expo 2020 is a chance to showcase the best of human excellence.

Photo: ALI HAIDER / EPA

Enlarge image

12/22

Towers in Austrian: Each country is assigned to one of the three core themes of »Mobility«, »Sustainability« and »Opportunities« - Austria has designed an exhibition on the latter.

The design should be reminiscent of the wind towers of the Arab world.

“Low-tech engineering” creates a natural cooling effect, so 70 percent less energy should be used for cooling than in buildings of a similar size.

Photo: Arnulf Hettrich / imago images / Arnulf Hettrich

Enlarge image

13/22

Sustainability Pavilion: Dubai's scorching early autumn heat turned out to be dangerous for visitors to the exhibition on the opening day, with some tourists fainting at 40 degrees Celsius and humid weather.

Photo: KARIM SAHIB / AFP

Enlarge image

14/22

Umbrella under solar panels: The Netherlands are taking up the main topic of sustainability.

Your building is almost entirely self-sufficient.

It extracts between 1000 and 2000 liters of water from the air every day, while transparent solar panels on the roof cover more than 40 percent of its electricity needs.

9,500 edible plants are grown on the farm, including mint, basil, asparagus, tomatoes and mushrooms.

The mushrooms were even used to make the pavilion's floor tiles.

Photo: RULA ROUHANA / REUTERS

Enlarge image

15/22

Vigilant sensors: Outside the Netherlands exhibition, a visitor takes a cell phone photo - while a robot is watching.

Photo: GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP

Enlarge image

16/22

Imported jungle from Singapore: With 80,000 plants of 170 different species, the mini rainforest is a green oasis in the middle of the arid desert climate.

The self-sufficient ecosystem keeps temperatures low and is supported by climbing robots that monitor the humidity and the health of the plants.

Water is extracted from the desert soil and desalinated on site - the energy for this is provided by the 517 solar cells on the roof.

Photo: RULA ROUHANA / REUTERS

Enlarge image

17/22

Russia in colors: The pavilion is one of the most colorful at the Expo, the outer shell consists of many tubes - their interweaving is intended to create a visual effect of infinity.

Photo: Kamran Jebreili / AP

Enlarge image

18/22

Captured by mobile phone: the Russian exhibition shows the structure and functionality of the human brain in a multimedia installation.

Photo: GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP

Enlarge image

19/22

Missile at the door: The US government has been banned by Congress from using public funds to participate in trade shows organized by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) - such as the Expo.

Instead, the United Arab Emirates financed the building in which a replica of the "Space X Falcon 9" rocket is exhibited with 60 million dollars.

Photo: ALI HAIDER / EPA

Enlarge image

20/22

“USA” in Arabic: In the pavilion's restaurant, visitors can eat “New York” bels, drink Budweiser beer and buy Nasa T-shirts in the souvenir shop.

The US expects its pavilion to attract over two million visitors in the six months the show is running.

Photo: GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP

Enlarge image

21/22

A shining world near Saudi Arabia: The building is the second largest in the Expo, has six floors and a huge, sloping wall of mirrors as a facade.

The art exhibition "Vision" shows a gigantic globe with a diameter of 30 meters and an interactive floor.

Photo: KARIM SAHIB / AFP

Enlarge image

22/22

Al-Wasl-Plaza, the center of the Expo site: the organizers praise the dome as the largest 360-degree projection surface in the world.

13.6 kilometers of steel were used to build it.

Photo: GIUSEPPE CACACE / AFP

abl / dpa / AFP / Reuters

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2021-10-15

You may like

Trends 24h

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.